Helping a Sick Pineapple
by LuffyGirl
Summary: Marco didn't always get sick. Heck, he hardly got sick. Rarely got sick. Never got sick. But never say never. Cuz now… Marco was sick. And he hated it.


**Helping a Sick Pineapple**

**Um… Hello. LuffyGirl here. I'm back with a new one-shot as you can see. For now. I'm more nervous about publishing in general than I am about the story itself but it's a personal reason that you guys might not understand so… yeah.**

**There are quite a few personal facts about this story and I'm really in love with how it turned out. It's a way I used to write and SHOULD be writing and I finished it in like… Five hours or so. (Not including editing and all that jazz) For me, that's great cuz that means I still have the way I used to do things left in me. The facts in this story will be mentioned at the bottom A/N cuz I don't want this A/N to be freakishly long :P The story itself is eight pages :)**

**I kept debating whether to make this MarcoxThatch or not and I kept changing a few things over and over but finally left it as friendship but there are little things here and there :3**

**So with all that being said…**

**Enjoy :3**

**Summary:** Marco didn't always get sick. Heck, he hardly got sick. _Rarely_ got sick. _Never_ got sick. But never say never. Cuz now… Marco was sick. And he _hated_ it.

**Disclaimer:** One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda! :D

STORY CONCEPT IS MINE!

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><p>Marco didn't always get sick. Heck, he hardly got sick. <em>Rarely<em> got sick. _Never_ got sick. But never say never. Cuz now… Marco was sick. And he _hated_ it. Whenever Marco had that rare moment of being sick it really took a toll on him since it hardly happened to him. Let's go back to yesterday shall we?

Yesterday…

"Bye, Thatch, I'm going laser tagging with Luffy and our friends!" Ace said almost running out the door.

"Wait, I wasn't invited?!" Thatch asked pretending to be offended.

"I did invite you. You have to work, loser." Ace stuck his tongue out.

"_Well_. What about Marco?"

"I did. He didn't want to come. He doesn't believe in laser tag." Ace joked making Thatch laugh. "Marco, I'm leaving, bye!" He then said loudly for Marco to hear in the bathroom but then remembered said person was taking a shower. "Guess he didn't hear me. Well, after laser tag we're going to eat andmaybecausesomehavochereandtherebye!"

Thatch shook his head at the last part. "Have fun."

Meanwhile in the bathroom Marco got out of the shower and got dressed. He felt hot but paid no mind to it since, well, he just took a hot shower. However, shortly after, he started feeling shaky and suddenly felt the need to sit down and did so on the lid of the toilet seat. A wave of heat washed over him and he started feeling dizzy and weak. Marco shakily turned on the sink water to wash his face.

"…after that I'm leaving."

Marco looked up at the door that was still closed. He didn't even know Thatch was talking to him.

'_Why do I feel like this?'_ Marco thought wanting to stand but his body wouldn't let him and his vision kept fading.

"…co? You o.k in there?"

Marco wanted to say something but couldn't. He felt so hot that he was sweating, light-headed and weak. Marco then stood up slowly leaning against the sink reaching to unlock the door.

THUD.

"Marco?" Thatch knocked on the door again. "What was that noise? Are you o.k?" He turned the knob but it was locked and that's when Thatch started to worry. "Marco!" He banged on the door twice. "Marco!" Thatch took out a bobby pin from his pocket (it was good to have them just in case) and started picking the lock. After hearing a click Thatch swung the door open and saw Marco on the floor. "MARCO!" He quickly went up to him and shook him. "Wake up!" He noticed Marco was sweating and panting heavily and Thatch put his hand on his forehead. "You're sick!"

Marco's eyes opened.

"You're gonna be o.k, Marco." Thatch told him as he picked him up bridal style and carried him to his room.

Marco tried to say something but couldn't. His eyes drifted close once more.

**XXX**

Thatch wasn't sure whether to call Ace or not and tell him about Marco. He didn't want to ruin the kids day of fun but at the same time Ace would kick his butt if he wasn't told anything. Thatch sighed and just tossed his phone away from him. He didn't want to start anything again like he did a few minutes ago with his job. Thatch looked at Marco who was still asleep but at least he wasn't sweating like earlier. He literally had to take off Marco's shirt and then put a cold wet towel on his forehead to bring down the fever. Thatch sighed once more and then left the room to check on the soup he was currently making for Marco.

**XXX**

Marco woke up and looked around. He saw Thatch sitting on the edge of the bed facing away from him and wondered why he wasn't at work. Thatch sighed and just tossed his phone away from him. Marco wanted to say something but fell asleep again before he could.

**XXX**

"Oi, I'm back!" Ace said entering the house. It was quiet. Too quiet. "Marco? Thatch?" Wait, Thatch is working. Ace went to the kitchen and saw said person sitting on a chair and asleep halfway on the table. Wasn't Thatch supposed to be working? Ace went up to him and tapped him. "Thatch."

Said person jumped up with a yelp making Ace jump himself.

"Ace? What're you doing here?"

"Uh, I live here. Why are you here so early? Where's Marco?"

"I didn't go to work because… Marco's sick."

"What?"

"Marco is sick."

Ace blinked. "No really, where is he?"

"Marco. Is. Sick."

The words processed in Ace's mind and when he realized Thatch wasn't joking he spoke. "You're serious. Where is he? Is he alright? Why didn't you call me earlier?"

"He's asleep in his room. He's been asleep all day. And I didn't want to ruin your day of fun."

"You should've at least texted me. I would've came back."

"Well that doesn't matter now. I have to check on Marco. You coming or what?"

Ace was kind of annoyed that Thatch didn't tell him anything earlier but also decided it wasn't important and followed Thatch to the room. There was something that was bothering Ace and he couldn't help but ask.

"Did your boss really let you take the day off?"

"… I let myself take the day off." _'Permanently.'_

Earlier when Thatch brought Marco in the room…

Thatch sat Marco up on the bed and took his shirt off. He laid Marco down and then got a cold wet towel and put it on his forehead.

"You're gonna be fine, Marco." Thatch said clearly worried. He then looked at the time. Ten a.m. He had to work at ten thirty but it looks like that won't be happening now. Thatch took out his phone and called his job.

"Hello?" Some one answered.

"Hey, Charlie it's Thatch. I'm really sorry for calling last minute but I won't be able to work today."

"Thatch, this is the fifth time you call out last minute."

"I know but…"

"Who is this?!"

Shit.

"It's Thatch."

"You're the one who's always calling out last minute! Get your ass over here right now or you're fired!"

"I can't, my brother is sick! If you don't like it then to heck with you, I quit!"

With that being said, Thatch hung up.

Back to now…

"So you quit." Ace said.

"Yeah." Thatch answered as they went in the room. He turned the light on and saw Marco asleep with a book in his hand which made Thatch smile. It was nice to know that Marco woke up at some point while he was down stairs.

"How was he earlier?" Ace asked. "And where's his shirt?" Ace wiggled his eyebrows.

Thatch rolled his eyes as he grabbed the wet towel from Marco's forehead. "Now's not the time for jokes, Ace. Shortly after you left I went upstairs telling Marco I was going to make him breakfast and after that I was going to leave. He didn't answer me and I heard a thud. I got worried so I picked the lock and found him on the floor unconscious. He was sweating so much that I had to take his shirt off which I did after I carried him here." Thatch placed a fresh cold wet towel on Marco's forehead.

"Sounds like a nightmare. At least he seems to look better than before. I suppose he woke up at some point since he has a book in his hand?"

"I guess so." Thatch took the book and placed it on the desk. "Clearly I wasn't here whenever he did wake up."

"… You know I would have came back Thatch. All you had to do was call. Everyone would've understood. You didn't have to do this alone."

"I know."

And Thatch did know that. So… Would it have made a difference if Ace was there? What if Thatch just went straight to work leaving Marco alone? Thatch didn't even want to think about what would've happened if he did so. Marco didn't always get sick but when he did it was bad. Not even bad it was… it wasn't fun o.k? Thatch thought about all the times he and Ace have been sick and them pouting at Marco and telling him how lucky he was for almost never getting sick. Even Marco would tease them about it but Thatch said he shouldn't say things too often since he believed people who rarely got sick got the worst of it when they did. Everybody gets sick. Nobody is to blame for that. And everybody knew that. Thatch knew that.

"Thatch?"

Said person looked at Ace who shook his head. "Wasn't me." Then it hit them and they both looked at Marco who was awake.

"Marco!"

"Why are you crying?"

Thatch felt under his eyes and indeed he was crying and wiped the tears away. "I… How are you feeling?"

"Like shit."

Ace and Thatch laughed at the simple-minded answer.

"What happened?"

"You're sick." Ace answered.

"Sick?"

"Yeah, sick. The shitty feeling you described seconds ago that me and Thatch get every once in a while?"

"Oh." Marco looked back at Thatch. "Why aren't you at work?"

"I took the day off. And don't say it wasn't necessary because it was."

"What time is it?"

Thatch blinked. "I honestly don't know." He turned to Ace. "What time is it?"

Ace rolled his eyes. "Ten o'clock."

"What he said."

"I've been asleep all day?"

"Pretty much. But you have woken up a few times since you were holding a book in your hand when we came in before."

"Oh. I'm hungry."

"I made you some soup if you want some."

"Sounds good."

"I'll take some!" said Ace.

"You get nothing!" Thatch scolded making Marco laugh a little.

The next day…

Marco woke up but closed his eyes when the sun shined on him and turned away. He opened them again and then sat up looking around. Since the bed was a little messier than usual Marco knew that Thatch and Ace were by his side. Marco smiled with a sigh but then started coughing. He spotted a water bottle, grabbed it, opened it and drank from it.

"You o.k?" Ace asked entering the room.

"Fine." Marco answered as he closed the water bottle. "Where's Thatch?"

"Downstairs making breakfast. He should be coming up soon. And no you're not going downstairs."

As if on cue, Thatch then entered the room with a tray of food and saw Marco pouting which he found cute. "What's wrong, Marco? Don't you like the fact that you're not allowed to leave the bed?"

"No I don't actually. Now I know how you guys feel about it."

"So that means you'll let us walk around more when we're sick?" Ace asked hopeful.

"Nope." Marco stuck out his tongue.

Ace shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

"Eat." Thatch told Marco as he carefully put the tray on him.

"What makes you think I'm hungry?" At that moment, Marco's stomach growled.

"That says you are. Now eat."

"Yes, mother."

"Hey, wait where's my food?" Ace pouted.

"Downstairs, you can get it yourself."

"Fine be that way."

"So what went on yesterday?" Marco asked Thatch when Ace left the room.

Thatch was hesitant but told Marco what went on yesterday except for the part about him getting fired from his job. Or his case, quitting.

"Sorry for scaring you like that." Marco said taking a sip of water.

"Why are you apologizing? We didn't know it was going to happen."

Before more could be said they heard a voice that was not Ace's.

"Hey, Marco! Thatch! Guess who's he~re?!"

Oh, heck no.

They heard multiple footsteps coming up the stairs and Thatch went to close the door but it was burst open sending him flying onto the floor.

"Hi, Marco~!" Luffy said loudly as he tackle hugged the poor guy squeezing him tightly. "I heard you were sick! Are you feeling better?"

"Luffy, get off him!" Ace said prying him off.

"Dammit, Ace! What's he doing here?!" Thatch said annoyed as he got up rubbing his poor head from the impact of the door and then noticed Marco's limp form. "Marco!" Thatch looked at Luffy and growled angrily.

"Hey, Thatch!" Luffy greeted unaware of the angry aura around him. "Heard you got fired from your job."

"I didn't get fired! I quit! Now GET **OUT**!" Thatch yelled literally kicking Ace and Luffy out the room and slammed the door shut.

"Your friends are funny, Ace!" Luffy laughed.

Said person just sighed.

**Epilogue**

Poor Marco woke up when Thatch was shouting and kicking Ace and Luffy out the room.

"I didn't get fired! I quit! Now GET **OUT**!" Thatch yelled literally kicking Ace and Luffy out the room and slammed the door shut.

"You quit your job?!"

Thatch jumped at the voice and turned around. "Um… Sort of?" He answered slowly.

"That's not an answer. Tell me. Why. Now."

A few days later, after Marco was fully better, Thatch was re-hired at his job thanks to Marco's… way of persuasion.

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><p>Bet you guys didn't see Luffy coming at the end, huh? XD<p>

Facts about this story (feel free to skip if you don't feel like learning about fainting awareness or other real personal things XP)

**First: I have never been laser tagging in my life but I really want to, lol.**

**Second: (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) 'However, shortly after, he started feeling shaky and suddenly felt the need to sit down and did so on the lid of the toilet seat. A wave of heat washed over him and he started feeling dizzy and weak. Marco shakily turned on the sink water to wash his face. But his body wouldn't let him and his vision kept fading. Marco wanted to say something but couldn't. He felt so hot that he was sweating, light-headed and weak. Marco then stood up slowly leaning against the sink reaching to unlock the door.' THIS! Ladies and gentleman is NOT a fun experience. This happens to me every once in a while and it feels EXACTLY how I described it. I'm not sure if others experience random dizzy moments like this and if so, it might be different for them but I'm not obligated to speak for them. But let me tell you… It's scary. The first time I had a dizzy moment like this was a long time ago we (family) were in a hospital and I suddenly got hot and wanted to leave but when I stood up I fell right to the floor. It also happened to me while in the bathroom but luckily it was time to sleep so I quickly got out and went to bed. Last time it happened to me I was actually typing a story and it was late but I forced myself to get it up before the day was over (it was my other fic 'Sunflowers') and I did but paid the price for it. So PLEASE, if you notice anyone looking like how I described the dizziness the best thing to honestly do is to let them lay down at the spot they are already at cuz they will not be able to move hardly at all. Even when they wake up it'll take a while before they feel well enough to get up. Thank You for reading this.**

**Third: 'Thatch wasn't sure whether to call Ace or not and tell him about Marco. He didn't want to ruin the kids day of fun but at the same time Ace would kick his butt if he wasn't told anything. Thatch sighed and just tossed his phone away from him. He didn't want to start anything again like he did a few minutes ago with his job.'** Gosh, this… I feel like I get stabbed or something every time I read this. Have you ever wanted to call people and tell them things but you feel like your bothering them? Cuz I get that A LOT. Like A LOT. And I always do the same thing. Toss my phone away from me. Same thing with calling out from a job. It's like… I just get nervous and scared and… *Breathes* Then people ask why you don't ask for help or talk to anyone but it's because you don't want to bother them. Then you get blamed for being 'selfish'. Sure, I let you have fun while I was here taking care of someone (note sarcasm). I admit, it's never wrong to ask for help but… I don't even know.

**Fourth: 'And Thatch did know that. So… Would it have made a difference if Ace was there?** Maybe, maybe not. They could've taken turns watching over Marco but other than that I don't really think so in my opinion. Feel free to argue if you think it would have :P

**Fifth: 'Even Marco would tease them about it but Thatch said he shouldn't say things too often since he believed people who rarely got sick got the worst of it when they did. Everybody gets sick. Nobody is to blame for that. And everybody knew that. Thatch knew that.'** O.k. This part. My big brother always says 'I hardly ever get sick' or 'I never get sick' and I always tell him to stop saying that. Why? Because I myself really do believe people who behave like that get sick the worst. O.k, maybe not really bad like Marco did but everybody gets sick regardless, o.k? And nobody is to blame for that.

**Sixth:** In case I didn't make this clear, (which I don't think I did) Thatch started crying because he became overwhelmed with what he was thinking about. Which is the bold paragraph above and everything else that was with it in the story.

**Seventh: '"What makes you think I'm hungry?" At that moment, Marco's stomach growled.'** Idk about you guys but when I'm sick, I hardly eat anything. Like for real, lol. Then when I'm better I eat like crazy XD

**Eighth:** What would you do if you had no other family to depend on and had to work when your brother or whoever was sick? I know it was kind of stupid to make Thatch quit his job to take care of Marco but in that moment he was conflicted about calling them in the first place and then with calling Ace on his day of fun. And… Mer. Do you see where I'm going with this? :P

**Ninth:** I decided to add Luffy cuz it needed some humor and I miss writing him :3 Plus it worked out well :3

**Tenth:** Watch below your waist line if you don't want to know Marco's way of persuasion is.

**Eleventh:** Congratulations! You finally finished reading! *Gives you eleven trucks of virtual cookies* Sorry if there are any typos, oocness and- ah you get the point already and for the freakishly long A/N :P Oh and I realized that the title and the summary are different from the story after I finished it *avoids eye contact*

Review, please! :D


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